Month: September 2011

1980. I’d been working on my pinewood derby car for more than a month. Everything seemed perfect: Dad had taken it to the the belt sander to give it its sports car body; I’d painted it red and took special care to make sure the pin stripes were just right. And, to hit the weight limit, Dad had embedded a piece of steel in the car. But on race day, well, let’s just say it was an 8-year-old’s worst nightmare. My car dragged along the track and never made it to the finish line. So, you can imagine my anxiety when the same thing happened during Henry’s first zucchini car race today at the Fremont Oktoberfest. And you can understand why I immediately took his car back to the workbench to solve the axel issue and make sure Henry ended up with the fastest zucchini car on the track. That is, until Kristine (two degrees in engineering) showed up with Ruby’s car.

The Fry Family Quartet enjoyed the first weekend of fall – a beautiful day in the heart of Fremont, complete with zucchini car races, pumpkin carving and face painting.

We ended summer of 2011 where we started it. Grandma and Grandpa Fry came up for a short visit on Saturday, so we enjoyed some cedar plank salmon for lunch. Today the Fry Family Quartet decided to go on a long hike. All roads on Lopez Island seem to lead to Spencer Spit, which is where we got lost this afternoon, wandering the lush green woods surrounding the state park. Goodbye summer. Looking forward to Lopez in the fall.

Half-way through our vacation I had to return to Seattle for 24 hours to attend a client meeting that I just couldn’t miss. Though never ideal to interrupt a vacation with work, this gave me an opportunity to take advantage of Kenmore Air and see the San Juans and Seattle in a way one rarely can. And it sure beats the ferry line.